Birmingham mum jailed for 20 years over young son's death
Hakeem Hussain was found dead in a garden in 2017
Last updated 28th Apr 2022
A mum from Birmingham has been jailed for 20 years for the gross negligence manslaughter of her asthmatic seven year old son.
Laura Heath also admitted child cruelty last week after jurors heard how Hakeem Hussain was found dead in a garden in Nechells, Birmingham in 2017.
Jurors at Coventry Crown Court were told that a school nurse had warned at a child protection conference that Hakeem "could die at the weekend" just two days before his death in the early hours of Sunday November 26, 2017.
Hakeem, who had been admitted to hospital due to asthma three times in the previous two years, is believed to have gone outside on his own as Heath deliberately "prioritised" her addiction to heroin and crack cocaine, leaving him without an inhaler.
Passing sentence on Laura Heath, Mr Justice Dove said his death was the result of her "catastrophic and deplorable" parenting.
The judge told the 40 year old that the death had occurred after her life "entered a drug-fuelled downward spiral into squalor, chaos and tragedy".
The judge said: "When Hakeem Hussain died in the early hours of the morning he was only seven years old.
"It is clear that in his tragically short life he had been an inspiration of happiness and affection for people who knew him.
"All of that potential for a wonderful and fulfilling life was cut short, extinguished as he collapsed on his own suffocating, clutching a leaf in the garden.
"The truth is that Hakeem died as a result of your deplorable negligence. You had allowed your life to be completely overtaken by your addiction to heroin and cocaine. His death was needless, tragic and a result of your abject failure as his mother."